Capital markets, investments, and crypto assets: NSSMC held a meeting with BAC and TheCityUK

Oleksii Semeniuk, Chairman of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and NSSMC Commissioner Maksym Libanov held an online meeting with the co-chairs of the Business Advisory Council’s (BAC) Capital Markets Working Group and representatives of the industry advocacy group TheCityUK.

Participants in the discussion included: Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange; Roman Dubchak, Deputy Chairman of the Canadian Commercial Bank; Nicola Watkins, CEO of TheCityUK; Alexander Thomas, Executive Director of The City-Ukraine Hub; and Inna Meteleva, Senior Project Manager for Ukraine.

The BAC was established at the Berlin Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2024. It comprises business leaders from 14 countries who are working to streamline the investment environment in Ukraine and accelerate the involvement of the private sector in the country’s reconstruction.

During the meeting, Oleksii Semeniuk outlined the Commission’s priorities for 2026–2027. The main goal is to make capital markets more accessible to businesses. Companies need to know that they can obtain financing not only from banks but also through capital markets.

To this end, it is proposed to shorten the securities issuance process from 4–5 months to 10–14 days, introduce personal investment accounts, and issue municipal bonds. The Commission is already discussing the latter issue with the authorities in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kryvyi Rih.

A draft Law of Ukraine on securitization was also registered in the Verkhovna Rada — it will allow banks to raise funds using their mortgage portfolios as collateral.

Another priority is the regulation of virtual assets. Ukraine ranks fourth globally in terms of cryptocurrency usage, and the Commission will serve as the primary regulator of this market. A corresponding draft law is being prepared for its second reading in Parliament.

The sides also discussed ways to attract foreign capital to Ukraine. As an example, the Commission Chair cited an agreement between Ukrainian and Polish depositories that grants Polish investors access to the Ukrainian market. Similar agreements are possible with other countries as well.

At the same time, the Commission is negotiating with the National Bank of Ukraine regarding capital repatriation. This is crucial for investor confidence, as foreign capital will not enter the market without the assurance that investors will be able to withdraw their funds after selling securities.

The BAC representatives said they were already analyzing how markets are regulated in various countries, including Croatia, Romania, North Macedonia, Sweden, the UK and Portugal. They want to prepare a coordinated set of recommendations for the Commission, rather than several different options from various donors. Julia Hoggett also proposed holding a separate meeting to discuss the reform in greater detail.

The sides agreed to meet every two months to monitor progress and adjust their joint efforts as needed.